Hello again. I'm Lynn's friend and fellow Internet Marketer Scott Tousignant. This week I am enjoying my role as guest blogger here at Clicknewz and introducing you to the positive impact that home office fitness will have on your business.
I sure enjoyed all your comments on yesterday's blog post where I shared some simple desk exercises with you. Remember, I'm randomly selecting a winner from all the comments on my blog posts this week.
Yesterday I mentioned that corporations have been adopting workplace fitness as a means of increasing productivity with their employees. Today we are going to explore the topic of productivity in more detail and help you get more of it during your workday...
I know that this is a question which has come up at Clicknewz in the past, but it's worth asking again. How many hours do you spend working on your online business? Next question... How many of those hours are spent being productive?
It's important to work hard and pay your dues in order to get your online business turning a profit. But spending 12-16 hours sitting in front of your computer may not be the most useful way to spend your time. You may be busy, but you are not being completely productive.
Have you ever found yourself staring at the computer screen for an hour trying to write a blog post, free report, or sales copy and not get anything done at all? I know that I've been there before. It happened to Nicole Dean's mother Patti too. Here's one of the experiences that she had with a quickie workout when she was trying to write an article...
"So, here I was, writing away on an article I have to finish NOW, not taking the 10 minutes I needed to do my workout. Instead, I kept thinking 'right after I finish this article I’ll do the workout.'
Now, that wouldn’t be a BIG problem except I couldn’t think! I was writing at about 1/10th the speed and thought process that I normally have! Ah, connect the dots… so, I hopped up and got to work on my weight session for today.
Oh, that felt so good, and I’m thinking again like I need to in order to finish the article. Okay, case closed. This whole Quickie thing works.
Great insight Scott … again!"
You only have approximately three peak productivity hours in your day. If you are really focused and have been working on your productivity, you may be able to squeeze out four very productive hours throughout your workday.
It's important to know what hours of the day you are most productive and capitalize on them. I am most productive during the hours of 9am and 12 noon. Any other time during the day I can become very easily distracted. Many of my friends work a lot better during the evening hours when their kids are sleeping. All I can think about is quality cuddle time with my wife Angie during those hours... and maybe a bit of tweeting here and there 😉
I love Lynn's advice of working on active tasks during your peak productivity hours and then do the passive activities after, during your less than productive hours. Active tasks would be something such as writing a guest blog post, creating a free report, or adding sales copy to your website. Something that can directly increase your online profits. Passive tasks would be tweeting, reading other people's blogs, or checking your email.
I have a secret weapon when it comes to increasing my productivity. It's short bursts of fast, fun home office fitness. Instead of only having three to four peak productivity hours throughout my day, I can easily create an additional hour where I'm super-focused and highly productive.
I strategically time my home office workouts for the times during my day when I'm feeling less productive such as first thing in the morning when I'd rather just sit in the rocker and drink some coffee and around noon when I begin to experience a bit of a lull and feel like taking a nap.
I usually prefer to do the quickie cardio first thing in the morning and perform the quickie workout at noon. Here's an example of a mid day home office workout that requires very little space, very little equipment, and very little time.
Home Office Workout
You may download the video by right clicking quickie workout
Lack of time is nothing but an excuse when it comes to avoiding exercise. If you are looking at the 10-minute workout as taking time away from your work and your life you've got it all wrong.
This 10 minute fitness break will actually give you more time in your day because you will be able to get more work done in less time as a result of your increased productivity and focus gained from the workout experience.
Come on now... who seriously doesn't have 10-minutes to workout?
Here's a typical breakdown of my day...
5:45 am Wake up with Angie and do a quickie cardio session together. This is the greatest start to my day and has a greater impact on my energy than coffee. I do enjoy a cup of coffee though... mostly for the warmth.
6:00 am Shower and eat a healthy breakfast.
6:15 am Work on my most important business task of the day which typically involves creating high quality content for my Fat Loss Quickie blog or a blog that I may be writing a guest post for.
7:00 am Get the kids ready for school. Angie has started her workday at this point, running a daycare in our home, so it's my responsibility to get the kids off to school.
8:00 am My kids are on the bus and it's time for me to get some of the kids that Angie watches onto their buses.
9:00 am I'm ready to tackle my most important tasks of the day. I start off by visiting the Fat Loss Quickie Club and checking in on my members goals. I like to tweet them and keep them on track for the day. Then I'll get back to blogging and any other important task.
12:00 pm I've reached my peak productivity limit and it's time for me to do a quickie home office workout followed by a healthy meal.
12:30 pm If I still have some major tasks to complete I'll get back to them. If not I'll visit Lynn's Elite Members forum too see if I can be helpful to anyone. I'll also visit a couple other forums and leave a comment on a blog post or two if the content was compelling and I can be resourceful to the audience there. I'll also use this time to post some tweets and see what conversations are going on. If there aren't any good conversations I will get out and do something more productive.
Worked into the mix are podcasts, Fat Loss Quickie accountability calls, and Lynn's Private Brainstorming sessions. Plus my daily accountability call with Bob "The Teacher" Jenkins. I'll also use the time after 12:30 for educational purposes if I don't have any major tasks to complete.
I like to wrap things up by 2pm with the absolute latest time being 3pm when my kids get off the bus. I devote the late afternoon and early evening to them. When they are in bed I may check in on Twitter or in a forum, but only for a few minutes and then Angie has my complete attention for the rest of the evening.
Why is home office fitness so great for boosting your productivity?
Your brain is actually being nourished by the BDNF protein which is created when you are physically active. At the same time as your brain is being fed, your body is eliminating stress chemicals that can have a harmful effect on your body and productivity. This is largely due to the increase in oxygen flow to the brain.
When you exercise you are creating an environment within your brain that is ideal for problem-solving, time management, increased focus, and greater levels of creativity. And get this... Exercise can actually help create new brain cells. I think we can all use a few more of those 😉
Exercise is the best thing that you can do to help your brain operate at its absolute best. If you are serious about your online business you can't continue to put off exercise any longer. Do not ignore the positive impact that it will have on your business and life.
The above benefits are the reasons why I exercise regularly and eat well. My focus isn't to lose weight even when I need to drop a few pounds or gain muscle. Those are both secondary benefits that do happen as you heard from Angela Wills in her comment on yesterday's blog post stating that she has lost 20 pounds.
This makes sticking to a fitness program for the long term so much easier. It's one of the advantages that you have over someone who is following a fitness program just to lose weight. You're not exercising just to improve your health... you're exercising to build your business and boost profits. That's so much more motivating!
It's time to do the quickie home office workout that I've shared with you above. Make note of how you feel before and after the workout. Pay attention to your mental clarity and creativity during the next two hours. The effects of this 10-minute workout will carry on throughout your day.
You don't need to wait until the New Year to make a resolution to improve your health and quality of life. Take action NOW! You deserve this quickie fitness break and how it will make you feel afterward. Go for it!
You ROCK!
Scott Tousignant
PS I'll be sharing a quickie home office cardio session with you tomorrow that is a perfect compliment to today's workout and a great solution for combating all the excess calories from your Thanksgiving dinner 😉
Excellent points, Scott. I know that I can see a dramatic difference in my productivity on the days that I start off with my quick 2-mile walk. Not only do I feel like a million bucks, but it's a great time for me to work out ideas in my mind and do some creative thinking.
There's also that mental kick - the boost of confidence that comes along with it, as well as kicking those shoulda woulda coulda's that nag you in the back of your mind - that just seems to put me in hyper productivity mode.
Off to watch the video - I'm loving this series!
Thanks Lynn. I love to walk and ride my bike. Once again, my focus isn't on weight loss during those times. I simply enjoy it. It helps me become in-tune with my thoughts or just allow my mind to wonder. I am also a nature lover, so I am totally at peace outdoors.
I'm blown away at the ideas that I get while I'm out being active. I make sure that I have my flip camera with me to record the thoughts and act on them immediately.
Two things really stood out in the post.
1) Work on important things during your most productive times. We all know how much work we can get done when we are focused and concentrating. I can get more done in an hour of focused work than I can in a day of working in a mental fog.
2) Exercise doesn't have to take all day and can give us a MENTAL advantage as well as physical one. Most people who work online may think it won't give them a benefit as they don't earn a living from their muscles but fail to realize the brain is a muscle as well.
Oh and developing mental focus is also an exercise. It takes a while to be able to sit down and focus for an entire hour so just like a normal exercise program, build up too it. Set a timer for 15 minutes and be productive. No email, no cell phone, no facebook, twitter, etc. Just focus on working on what needs to be done.
Great post and have to get my stability ball back out 🙂
Fantastic contribution to the post Scott! Love your comments and additional input. Absolutely outstanding!
you got it right Scott lovinggod
Scott, you are inspiring me to start working out. But I am really scared: have you heard that one before? Here is why: I've never struggled with weight (actually struggled to keep it on), so exercise, other than walks, was never part of my routine.
My muscles hurt just looking at you doing this workout. Where do you start when you are totally out of shape (as in out of breath after running for one minute)?
Great question Adriana. And yes, I've heard many people say that they are scared to begin a fitness program for many reasons such as fear of failure, and even fear of success such as, "What if my husband is jealous of my leaner body and is worried that I'm going to cheat on him?"
If you are a beginner and totally out of shape these exercises will still work very well for you. Just ease into it. Take a rest break between exercises. Only do one set instead of two. If you are totally out of shape even a small change will make a difference. So don't feel as though you need to complete the entire workout. For you, even 5 minutes would produce good results (which is awesome).
The goal is always progression. Do as many exercises as you can from the workout and take as long a rest as you need. The next time try to do one more exercise and shorten your rest period just a tad.
Progression... not Perfection is the key.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask. Give the ball exercises from yesterday a try, they are a great starting point. I'll share some more resources with you over the next few days.
Resistance exercise is incredibly important. Strong muscles are great, but strong bones are just as good. Both of them contribute to improved quality of life, especially over the long term.
Scott, I must have missed your ball exercise post. Where is that? Thanks. I love the ball exercises.
Can you share some resistance exercises you love and we will too. ABs is always a great starter. If you posted them somewhere then links is all I need. Off to gulp down my water! Thanks.
carol
Scott,
Great stuff! I try and walk each day - approximately 3 miles. When I do - Holy cow the results in my business are amazing. Increased clarity, focus and stamina.
My next steps = stability ball here I come!
You, my friend, TOTALLY ROCK!
Excited for tomorrow's post.
Thanks Frank. It's great to hear that you'll be using a stability ball soon. Walking is so incredibly beneficial and greatly underrated. It has an amazing impact on my mood and my business.
Adriana - I'm starting slow too. I've been working out several times a week on my Gazelle, a low impact cardio for energy. I also cut out diet soda and am drinking a lot more water.
Now, with Scott's series I added the stability ball, and am just doing the simple exercises he showed us yesterday (so far). Just these little changes are making a really big difference for me.
Scott - Angie is a total knockout mom!
Today's picture really is really inspiring 🙂
Thanks Lynn. Pretty awesome for having two kids and one of them being a c-section. She works hard to continually improve her health and she refuses to follow any strict guidelines.
She works 10 hour days with her home daycare and she contributes a lot to our online business. She's authored a great ebook and helps me blog and record videos. Plus she is a personal trainer herself and trains a few clients. Plus she takes care of the biggest kid in our family (ME) and our two young children.
She's the definition of a busy work-at-home-mom and she makes her health a priority by waking up early to do her quickies and going for a walk at night to unwind.
She inspires me every day.
Brilliant advice. Just don't forget to take your journal out with you in case you get a sudden flurry of ideas 😉
I bring my flip camera or audio recorder with me during a walk or bike ride. I need to use it every time because I always end up with a great idea to improve the quality of my programs, the service, or for a new product.
I've got one of those JOBY adjustable tripods that I mount on my bike while I ride.
Wow! Let me say it again, Wow! I am so excited about what I just saw. I am 270 (down from 300) pounds, and I just started back working out about 45 days ago. I had a gym membership but canceled it due to financial problems. I am a fitness nut, and I soak up everything I can, but I am somewhat lazy. I'll start and quit.
My day job is from 11am to 730 or 9pm Mon-Fri. Guess what, I work for the Coca-Cola Enterprises (Service Tech). Talking about a challenge. Sugary drinks and empty calories everywhere. Since I canceled my gym membership, I've been focusing on bodyweight exercises. The time it takes to research and actually find or sometimes build things I need to perform the exercises takes away from the benefits.
Since I'm always looking for new ways to cut down on time and better exercises I jumped all over this post. A normal bodyweight workout for me takes 35 to 45 minutes. So when I saw you working up good sweat after just 5 minutes I actually took an early lunch and got busy doing the routine.
Man, now I have to shower!! Great video. Just signed up for your mailing list. I got to learn more. I hope everyone is taking advantage of this info and realize how valuable this post is. Sweat 10 minutes without it being 75 degrees outside. Priceless!
You just made my day Conray!
Let's put an end to the stop/start and build a healthy active lifestyle that is easier to stick with for the long term.
Even I'm still amazed at how effective a 10-minute workout can be. I've had Fat Loss Quickie members double up on the workouts because they thought that 10-minutes may not be enough. Well, they ended up needing to take a couple days rest after that because they're muscles were sore.
10-minute quickies are both efficient and effective.
Thank you so much for your comments and contribution Conray. You ROCK!
Great tips as usual, Scott! Thanks
Thanks for the tips Scott. It's great to see how people structure their day too so thanks for sharing that.
🙂
You're welcome Alex. The key is being super focused during those peak productivity hours and not wasting them by doing passive tasks.
This post definitely teaches some nice things.Nice work and nice post.
I use to play tennis and exercise regularly until about 5 years ago. I live near a Conservation area and keep telling myself I'm going to start walking the paths there again, but you know that day hasn't come yet. Last week I ran up a set of steep stairs and when I got to the top I thought I was going to pass out. That has never happened. My thighs hurt - everything was just out of wack. I read your post yesterday as I rushing out to appointments and made a mental note to watch your video today. Wow! You're so right I've got 10 minutes in my day to do these exercises and make use of the exercise equipment we have.
A great post Scott - your enthusiasm is just what I need 😉
Thanks Sharon.
You do have the perfect opportunity with the conservation area so close by. If you aren't simply enjoying the beauty of nature you could listen to an educational audio or maybe even the recordings from Lynn's brainstorming sessions.
Mixing exercise with computer work? Finally somebody addresses this issue. I find a quick bike ride refreshes my brain circuits and I end up being more productive.
Thanks Joe. And the best part... I find it easier to stick with a fitness program that is incorporated into my workday over any other traditional fitness program.
Scott,
I've been trying to find that happy balance and you've really got me thinking. While looking at your schedule you must move quickly in the early morning 😉 but I like your approach: understand when your most productive times are and take advantage of that.
Thanks for getting me to think more consciously about productivity and my exercise regimen (or lack thereof).
Thanks for your comments Kelli. I certainly am most productive first thing in the morning. A big part of it is because I do a quickie workout first thing.
The morning hours is when I'm most focused and can hammer out a lot of content for my blogs or guest blog posts. If you take advantage of your peak productivity hours you can really get a lot done in a short period of time.
My daughter and I are off for a quick 2 mile walk on this beautiful Saturday... before we dig in to affiliate site updates. Trying to get some productivity flowing around here! I love having my kids work for/with me here in the home office 😉
Scott,
Thanks for sharing. Got question. Trainer said today no carbs after 5. Thoughts? Also said starting day off with 8-12 ounces water first thing upon waking. I do tons of cardio, but metabolism is not reved up. Maybe as we age, it slows down. I eat a very healthy diet. I started getting back into weight training so that I can knock some of these "surprise" add on pounds off.
Hi Carol, thanks for your question. Manipulating your carb intake is common advice among trainers and fitness professionals. I find that a lot of the nutrition advice out there just complicates things and causes people to not stick with a healthy eating lifestyle for the long term.
I recommend that you focus on eating as many healthy natural foods as possible and continue to reduce the amount of man made foods. Keep it simple. Don't worry about what time of day you are eating certain types of foods. The stress and worry can actually do more harm that eating the carbs themselves.
I typically consume the starchy carbs earlier in the day and reduce the amount of calories and starchy carbs in each meal as the day goes on. So my last couple meals are veggies and a lean protein. But I certainly don't eat like that all the time and I don't beat myself up if I have a carb at night.
Drinking water first thing in the morning is one of the best things that you can do. Your body is really dehydrated during that time and your brain certainly needs the water to wake you up and function optimally.
Your metabolism will slow down as you age and a big part of it is the loss in muscle mass. That's why resistance training is so important. Doing hours of cardio every week doesn't help out with maintaining muscle mass and can actually hinder your results. I prefer the shorter, more intense bouts of exercise and it has proven to be more effective. But with that being said, I still enjoy going for bike rides and walks.
Hope that helped.
Thanks so much for lengthy wisdom. I am working at developing the muscle mass now more than before. I was shocked hitting the scale and finding in 18 months close to that per month gain. I do love to eat quantity too. So now I've lost my love for tortilla chips and also vegan chocolate morsels. It's been almost a week and going strong w/o withdrawals. I do eat mainly rawfoods, vegan, plant based but this diet can also invite lots of nuts. So not opting anything except water and weight training now. I am not a fan of bike rides and my crotch never got used to even nice gel seats. Walks I love, but alone, nay, so gym is my best option for me. I just want my young "thinner" body design to return. Started using the BodyBugg yesterday and because I am lots at computer and rested yesterday my calorie burn was very low. So maybe it's bouncing on rebounder a few times a day to up the calorie burn or skip cardio day and do weight training. Thanks again for your wisdom and time. Much appreciated. I got a million and one healthy recipes in my head and computer if ever in the mode! Really google can give you more than I have but talking vegan, plant lifestyle. Have a rockin day!
Hi Scott,
Some excellent advice. I get so engrossed I totally forget.
Great tips and ideas
Thanks
Denise
My suggestion is that you do an interview with Lynn for at least 20 minutes of some Tuesday webinar. Prehaps use this video if it can be made to work inside the webinars browser. Then either take questions or have Lynn do pre supplied questions.
me since I'm 70, overweight(210 lbs with a 5'9" height), have Copd(from smoking, quit approx 5 years ago)& otherwise a couch potato will be starting very slowly. Yes, I have dumb bells, exercise ball, excerise cords, even videos, what I need is your video(which I'v downloaded & played) and a reinforcement that slow and steady is good.
I think Scott has webinars or at least videos throughout his site. Or I may have missed your meaning on what you were interested in seeing during one of my Internet Marketing webinars?
Just thought it might introduce him to a wider audience and would be a very good topic for inclusion into a more productive use of one's time. But yeah it's only a suggestion.
Thanks Robert. I think that Lynn has done a heck of a job of introducing me to a wider audience by having me as a guest blogger on her site this week. It's meant a lot to me and it's been an absolute blast.
There are loads of videos on my site to give you the guidance and the kickstart to use what you've got.
I have clients who are 89 years young and have just started training an 87 year old. They'd kick most 30 year olds butts with what they can do on a stability ball. Check out this video, "Your Never Too Old For a Quickie"...
http://fatlossquickie.com/blog/youre-never-too-old-for-a-quickie/
I don't put music on my videos for several reasons... The most important is that many people may not enjoy the music I select. Feel free to listen to what you enjoy while you workout. I personally prefer to listen to Stephen Pierce's Attraction Accelerate mp3's.
One thing is for certain... there's no other fitness program out there that caters to the homepreneur lifestyle as Fat Loss Quickie does 😉
Slow and steady will definitely work. I've been recording some beginner workouts for my program this week for those people who need to ease into it.
...and I'm in the process of creating workouts for people who spend most of their waking hours in a wheelchair. That's because one of the newest Fat Loss Quickie members is in that exact situation. Amazing how she's not seeing it as a limitation and going for her dreams despite any obstacles.
Robert, Congratulations for being here with us. You rock just reading my first post by you. I'm also of the over 50 year old AARP generation, but feeling strong and great shape except for a few excess pounds talked of. I do workout lots and need to have people around to get me started in classes. I am the oldest by far person in the class, but I don't let the age factor hold me back. I'm right up there with the younger folks. I use the ball too, but learning how to use it right and where to postion yourself and how you are doing it has helped by having a personal trainer as starters. I love 24 hour fitness for pricing and also classes besides equipment. I go to their Sports clubs and have that membership. Just sharing.
I love high energy music and found that music by turbojam is great.
carolg
Carol, I have no excuse and nobody to blame for most of my problems. Oh wait there was the head-on collision in my new '65 Mustang caused by a drunk who came up the freeway the wrong way. 20 hrs in a coma, 44 days in the hospital, 6 mo's off work and several years under medical restriction(main benefit was closier employee parking). This happened back i April of 1967.
I too am more likely to do any exercise if there is music playing. Never heard of Turbojam(am off to "google it") At present I have some Blondie, Abba, Bruce Springsteen,Dixie Chicks, etc ripped to my Hard Drive and playable via VLC Media Player(both free and open source)
Robert,
Wowsy. I would call you a SURVIVOR PLUS that kept moving ahead. http://www.turbojam.com. Congrats. I love people like you that don't understand the "quit" but thirsty to change, learn and grow. Keep it up and since I am a beginner here I don't have he wisdom of others, but I am a gifted encourager by nature. You know where to find me quickly. I do reply that speed too if I see it coming in. I plan on developing a website that would probably not be about you since you are already there but others have quit from "life" and "learning" -- let's generalize and over 50 crowd since I'm there-- so I can to fuel and feed them with new "life encouragement" to THRIVE with steps and support along the way. Not up and running yet, but I'm excited as I got UNstuck and that freedom is priceless to keeping me alive. I want to pass it forward through a business outreach. I still need to buy groceries, pay bills, etc. plus donate to organizations I love freely and not have to think where next dollar coming from. Sorry for long post.
Carol
What did I write and here to clarify. Wow, no edit. Correction: "No I don't love freely, BUT I love to give to organizations I believe in freely."
Okay found the only downside to this new set up. All is cool.
Carol
Scott,
Great job. I'm sure you are aware for the wheelchair person there is the Needak with bars and maybe not all use it. Even wheelchair exercises using resistance bands, heavy hand weight or free weights. I can see how that could work. I'm thinking of others as well including using a door know to stretch or a bar...not sure of all the mechanics however...best to you always! I'm on your team!!
Carol